The present invention is a method for treating damaged skin or other tissue, for example, burns, hemorrhoids, diaper dermatitis (diaper rash), etc. and skin and tissue subjected to laser treatment. The method applies a composition to the affected area.
The inventive method increases the rate at which damaged tissue heals. One way the method operates is by aiding in forming a bed of granulation tissue. Another aspect of the method of the invention is its use of a composition which is an ointment, which is not totally occlusive, but semi-occlusive, and allows the skin to breathe.
Hemorrhoid treatments using an ointment base do not realize the importance of ensuring the base is semi-occlusive. For example, Williams U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,480, merely refers to an ointment base of lanolin and petrolatum, without requiring that the base be semi-occlusive. Further, both Crosby, U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,498, and Gros, U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,433, use a petroleum jelly base, which, like Vaseline.RTM., may be occlusive and may not allow the skin to breathe.
The method of the invention uses a composition including salicylic acid to produce keratoplasticity, which aids in forming a bed of granulation tissue. Reller, U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,681, uses acetyl salicylic acid as an anti-inflammatory agent and for treating burn tissue. In Reller, acetyl salicylic acid makes up to about 10% by weight of the composition when used to treat burn tissue, far more than necessary to produce keratoplasticity.
Salicylic acid derivatives are used in Reller, U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,566, in analgesic and anti-inflammatory compositions. One problem in using such a composition to heal damaged tissue is that Reller refers to using the composition in the form of a cream. Unlike the ointment based composition used in the inventive method, a cream would not be effective in the present invention, since a cream can cause further drying of tissue, thus preventing proper healing.
Jacquet, U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,750, uses salicylic acid derivatives which are more effective at producing keratolysis at lower concentrations than salicylic acid. See column 1, lines 50-55. The amount of salicylic acid used in the composition of the present invention is effective to create keratoplasticity. The amount of salicylic acid necessary to create keratoplasticity is less than that required to cause keratolysis. Since Jacquet would require less of its salicylic acid derivatives to produce keratolysis than would be required if salicylic acid were used, it may be difficult to use Jacquet's salicylic acid derivatives to create keratoplasticity.
Further, the Jacquet composition may be in the form of a cream. The composition used in the method of the present invention is not a cream, since a cream can cause further drying of tissue and is quickly absorbed into the skin where it cannot act as a protective barrier.
Tocopherols have been used in an anti-inflammatory composition to treat hemorrhoids, see Masse, U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,767, which uses a cream. Vitamin E has been used for this purpose as well, see Haimowitz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,143. This free radical scavenger has also been used in a sunscreen to prevent and treat sunburn, see Perricone, U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,361, which uses a cream.
No composition is known for treating damaged skin or other tissue which has semi-occlusive ointment base, allowing the skin to breathe so it can heal, and further has an amount of salicylic acid effective to produce keratoplasticity.